phosphofructokinase

Phosphofructokinase (PFK) is a kinase enzyme that phosphorylates fructose 6-phosphate in glycolysis.

== Function == The enzyme-catalysed transfer of a phosphoryl group from ATP is an important reaction in a wide variety of biological processes. Phosphofructokinase catalyses the phosphorylation of fructose-6-phosphate to fructose-1,6-bisphosphate, a key regulatory step in the glycolytic pathway. It is allosterically inhibited by ATP and allosterically activated by AMP, thus indicating the cell's energetic needs when it undergoes the glycolytic pathway. PFK exists as a homotetramer in bacteria and mammals (where each monomer possesses 2 similar domains) and as an octomer in yeast (where there are 4 alpha- (PFK1) and 4 beta-chains (PFK2), the latter, like the mammalian monomers, possessing 2 similar domains). This protein may use the morpheein model of allosteric regulation.